The selling power of secret messages

Subliminal advertising really does work, scientists say. The phrase was coined in 1957 by U.S. market researcher James Vicary, who said he could get moviegoers to "drink Coca-Cola" and "eat popcorn" by flashing those messages onscreen for such a short time that viewers were unaware.

His claims led to fears that governments and cults would use the technique to their advantage - and it was banned in many countries, including the UK.

Vicary later admitted he had fabricated his results.

But 50 years on, using sophisticated scanning techniques, British researchers have shown messages we are not aware of can leave a mark on the brain.

The findings, from University College London, suggest subliminal advertisements would have the power to affect our shopping habits.

Dr Bahador Bahrami said: "What's interesting here is that your brain does log things that you aren't even aware of and can't ever become aware of.

"What our study doesn't address is whether this would then influence you to go out and buy a product.

"I believe that subliminal advertising may affect our decisions but that is just speculation."

The messages get through only when our brain is not too busy with other things, the researchers found.